David Stern: A Marketing Genius?

NBA Commissioner David Stern has been called a lot of things—sharp, arrogant, glib, a great dancer, smug, a midget, brilliant, Gary Bettman’s lover, and other superlatives. Most often throughout his tenure atop the league, Stern—who once had a chevron-style mustache—has been referred to as a marketing genius.

As someone who knows a bit about marketing, I would disagree with this contention, because since 1990 college basketball has rocketed past the NBA in popularity in the United States.  Whenever I talk to people about hoops, they tell me they don’t follow the pro game but love college basketball.

If you look at some of the NBA’s more recent ads like the “Where Amazing Happens” series, they simply make no sense considering one of the stronger fan demographics that really digs pro hoops is young black men.  Most NBA ads are elegant, slick, with classical or adult contemporary themed music playing behind the video. Apparently, Stern doesn’t realize that 60-year-old white guys are not the fans of the future. His younger demographic loves the And-1 dribbling demonstrations.

To wit—while this “Where Amazing Happens Tour” video has 192,000 views on YouTube, this NBA vs. And-1 video that focusing on hardcore jams and highlight reels has 1.9 million views. If Stern were to focus his marketing efforts on the highlight reel type plays (although I must admit I actually hate that stuff and prefer solid ball handling and shooting any day), he’d do a much better job of marketing the league to its young fans.

But credit Stern and the NBA schedulers this stroke of genius. Since the end of the NFL season, the NBA has scheduled some of its best games of the year knowing it has a captive audience—aside from “Joanie Loves Chachi” reruns. Immediately following the Super Bowl when there was no more football to watch, we were treated to a classic Lakers vs. Celtics game that came down to Lamar Odom free throws. And this past weekend, arguably the top four teams in the league were in action against one another as the Spurs visited Boston and the Lakers squared off against the Cavs.

So in this instance, we must give Stern and the NBA a nod for marketing genius, but if the league hopes to retain its swagger long term, it should think hard about the fans of the future and not the relics of the present.

The Comment Bin

I’m always interested in reading what you have to say in response to JSF columns, and after writing two pieces last week, we had some interesting, varied feedback:

• In response to my post on Bob Knight, Jeremy wrote, “If basketball had been my chosen sport I would have wanted to play for him.” On the other hand, Shoelundo wrote, “Even as an Indiana fan, it amazes me that nobody seems to be willing to acknowledge that he runs pretty mediocre programs these days.” He also mentioned that Knight has troubles recruiting in today’s environment. A valid point as some of the top black players in recent years have reportedly shied away from his coaching style.
• After my piece about the impact of Kurt Warner’s religion and the impact it has on fans - which certainly leaned towards hatin’ on athletes who are overly spiritual in public, we received a wide spectrum of responses. Jesse wrote, “It takes a brave man to ignore the hate that he’s sure to receive and not be afraid and talk about his faith and I admire Kurt for that courage.” Kilo said, “I’d rather my sports stars believe in omnipotent beings that live in the clouds than believe in hand guns, cocaine, and steroids.”

This will be my last posting for a few weeks as I head to New Orleans to participate in the annual Mardi Gras Krewe of the Rolling Elvi.  So until then……carry on.

if you wish to tell Dr. Aaron why the Cubs can win this year’s World Series, e-mail him at [e-mail]